trivia

See also: Trivia

English

Pronunciation

• (Canada, UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɪvi.ə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪviə

Etymology 1

PIE word
*tréyes

From Latin trivia, plural of trivium (“place where three roads meet”). The term came to be used for any public place, and then for anything commonplace. Furthermore, because the beginners' course at university was called trivium, the word came to be used only for anything basic, simple and "trivial" (quod vide).

Noun

trivia (countable and uncountable, plural trivia or trivias)

1. insignificant trifles of little importance, especially items of unimportant information

   These trivia take up too much of the day.

   This trivia takes up too much of the day.

2. A quiz game that involves obscure facts.

   I joined the trivia club this semester!

Usage notes

• Formerly, as a word derived from a Latin plural, trivia required a plural verb, as in the first usage example above. Most modern authorities accept a singular verb, and this may be the preferred usage in the US. The game (2) is always regarded as a singular noun.

Derived terms

• administrivia
• triviaholic
• triviaphile

 

Related terms

• trivial
• triviality
• trivialize

 

Translations

insignificant trifles of little importance

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 冷知識, 冷知识 (lěngzhīshí, lěngzhīshì)

• Dutch: trivia (nl)
• French: bagatelles (fr) f pl, fadaises (fr) f pl
• German: Trivia n pl, Varia (de) n pl, Nichtigkeiten (de) f pl, Kleinigkeiten (de) f pl, Minuzien pl (obsolete)

• Japanese: 豆知識 (まめちしき, mamechishiki)
• Kazakh: мелочи (meloçï)
• Kyrgyz: мелочи (meloçi)
• Latvian: nieki m pl, sīkumi m pl
• Maori: kūrapa, kāmuimui
• Polish: ciekawostka (pl) f
• Russian: ме́лочи (ru) f pl (méloči), пустяки́ (ru) m pl (pustjakí)
• Swedish: bagateller (sv) c pl, småsaker (sv) c pl, struntsaker (sv) c pl
• Turkish: ıvır zıvır (tr)
• Ukrainian: дрібни́ці (dribnýci), ціка́винки (cikávynky)

quiz — see quiz

Etymology 2

Noun

trivia

1. plural of trivium

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Finnish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtriʋiɑ/, [ˈt̪riʋiɑ]
• Rhymes: -iʋiɑ
• Syllabification: tri‧vi‧a

Noun

trivia

1. trivia

Declension

Inflection of trivia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
nominative		trivia	triviat
genitive		trivian	trivioiden trivioitten
partitive		triviaa	trivioita
illative		triviaan	trivioihin
		singular	plural
nominative		trivia	triviat
accusative	nom.	trivia	triviat
	gen.	trivian
genitive		trivian	trivioiden trivioitten triviainrare
partitive		triviaa	trivioita
inessive		triviassa	trivioissa
elative		triviasta	trivioista
illative		triviaan	trivioihin
adessive		trivialla	trivioilla
ablative		trivialta	trivioilta
allative		trivialle	trivioille
essive		triviana	trivioina
translative		triviaksi	trivioiksi
instructive		—	trivioin
abessive		triviatta	trivioitta
comitative		—	trivioineen

Possessive forms of trivia (type kulkija)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	triviani	triviamme
2nd person	triviasi	trivianne
3rd person	triviansa

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Latin

Noun

trivia

1. nominative/accusative/vocative plural of trivium

Adjective

trivia

1. inflection of trivius:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural

Adjective

triviā

1. ablative feminine singular of trivius

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Spanish

Noun

trivia f (plural trivias)

1. trivia